Hydraulic resistance brake



July 4, 1950 J. w. KENNEDY 2,513,879

HYDRAULIC RESISTANCE BRAKE Filed June so, 1947 2 Shee'ts-Shet 1 J y 5 J. w. KENNEDY 2,513,879- L HYDRAULIC RESISTANCE BRAKE Filed June 50, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor g 5 Joseph M Kennedy By Emma WWW Em Patented July 4, 1 950 HYDRAULIGTRESISTANICE BRAKE Joseph W. Kennedy, He estead, Pa.

Application: .luneza'o, 1947, Seria1iNo.-'758;138-

. :01 m. (c1.1"ss'i-90 This invention relates generally tobrakes, and more particularly to abrake. mechanism comprising a fixed. casing, a: rotor eccentrically;

mounted within said casing and. rigidly secured.

to a shaft to be.=braked,the rotor having aplurality of vanes which arev successively brought intocontact with oil inthe crescent-shaped oil chamber defined by, and between the: rotorand easing, together with novel means =for caryingthe. volume of the oil in this chamber-andother means for varying the degree; ofopening ofv ports leading to channels which'connect thesoppositesides of said chamber, the-brakingaction resulting from the frictionoflthe fluid=forced through the.

said channels by the action of the vanes.

A primary object of. this ,inventionis to pro vide abrakewhichi may: be. applied to any-rotating shaft, more particularly shafts such as those found in overheadz.=cranes,-.truck trailers, and similarapplications, the braking-action being. absolutely positive and. dependable; and capable of substantially locking; the.- shaftagainst -rota-- tion.

Another salient object of this inventionisl'to provide a braking mechanism in whichi-nogbrake shoes are required, the: wearing parts being normally of metal construction, ,thusiproviding for decreased maintenance and repair-costs;

' Another object of thiseinvention. is-sto provide a novel disk-multiple va'lvea structure which is" ;1 used to fractionally closeltheiportssof channels.

connecting the opposite sides :of' the crescent shaped chamberv between the rotor and the-:cas-

ing, Which chamber: results fr'omr-the eccentric mounting of the':rotor withinz said; casing.

Still another-object of'this inventionis to-combine with a braking mechanism of this characterapiston and cylinder'in communication with the said chamber, the piston beingi'm'echanically;cone nected tothe disk-mentionedabove so, that the said ports are fractionally closedsimultaneously; with an increase in thesquantity of v oil: contained, in the. said chamber, thus: insuring; absolutely;-

positive action of the-brake;

And 4 a last object" to :beuspecifically' menti'oned' is to provide a device "of'thi'scharacter: which is: relatively inexpensive and practicableito man'ue:

iacture; extremely 'simplezand'rconvenient to, use,

and which is sufficiently. sturdy; to provide for generally efllcient and durable service:

With these objects definitely-in view; this ins:

vention resides in certaizrinovel.features ofrcon struction, combination and ariangementoi parts. and :portions as will be hereinafter; "described in: detail in the: specificatiom... particularlycpolntedi 2'1 out in the appended claims, and illustrated in: the accompanying drawings which form a ma-- terial .part of this application; and in'which:

Figure lis aside elevational view of a bear ing and a shaft with a brakingmechanism con structed according to this invention operatively' mounted thereon, the major portions :of the -brak--- in'g mechanism being shown in vertical section, as taken substantially on the linexl r in Figure 6;

Figure 2 is an endelevational view of" the structure shown in Figure l, the view being taken-on the line 2-2 in-Figure 1 and in the-direction of the" arrows;

Figure 3 15a vertical transverse sectional; View, takenl'on the line, 3--3;in Figureal;

Figure 4 is a s-imilar- View taken on the line 4-4 in Figurel, and in'the direction of themrows Figure 5 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line 5-5 in Figure land showing what ishereinafter referred to as the disk with theaperturesindicated therein, and also indicating. the slot in the disk which receives one:

end. of awtransversely disposed-pin member connected w ith the piston which is best shown in Figures land 3,- together with contiguous structure;

Figure Gis'avertical transverse sectional view" of the brake, taken on the line 61-45 in'Figure l,

andshowin'gj the channels formed in the housing. and --extending .from sideto sideto connect the opposite sides of the crescent-shaped chamber between, the rotor andathecasing, it being noted that another slot 'is -formed in the casing to re-- ceive and guide the transversely disposed .pinreferred t'o above, this figure also indicating a-p'ortion of the i-cylinder andthe piston rod; and

t Figure?- is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on: the line 1--'|-and showingia part ofthe bearings for the-shaft and the supportingmeansfor thehousing, the view being on'a slightlysreduced scale;

. similar characters of reference designate simi lam-.01 identical parts and portions throughoutthe specificationandthroughout the several views of the drawings. I

Referringetothese drawings in detail, the shaft flliyto be braked.is illustrated as; supported in a bearing {2 on a-base/or-frameM which has an extendingzportion. lG-providing support for thehousing l-8 -of-the-brake mechanism. The memhere My; Handlfi are'included in the drawing to :indicate the". environment wherewith this invention -isadapted i-to be used-and-tthestructure J of these elements will, of course, vary in accords;

to provide an oil-tight seal between'the shaft and the bearing portion 22 of the housing. The

other portion 26 of the housing is bolted to the portion l8 by transversely disposed bolts 28 peripherally disposed on the housing. A sealing ring 30 will ordinarily be required between the portions l8 and 26 of the housing to provide 'for an oil-tight seal between theseparts. The por- 2 tion 26 of the housing has integrally secured thereto an irregularly shaped extending portion 32 which carries a sleeve bearing 24 adapted to provide an oil-tight seal between-the portion 32 of the housing and the contiguous-portion of the shaft l0, andthis portion 32 of the housing has a cylinder 34 formed therein to receive a piston 36. This piston 36 is actuated by'a pistonrod 38 which reciprocates within a bore 6% aligned with the cylinder 34, and the bore 40 communicates with an-enlarged slot'portion 42 which allows the movement of the transversely disposed pin 44 which is threadedly or otherwise secured to the end of "the piston rod 38. The outer end of this transverse pin 44 is pivotally secured, as at 46, to an actuating control rod 48, while the inner end of .this transverse pin 45 is inserted in thei-slotfill in the apertureddisk 52, as best illustrated in Figures 1 and 5.

The disk 52 is rotatably mounted between the main portion l8 of the housing and the portion 26 thereof,-and bearsa'gainst the' rotor 20'on one side; A'plurality of apertures-'54 are formed 1 in the disk 52- to provide"communication between the lower end of the cylinder 34, when the device is disposed as illustrated in the drawings, and the crescent-shaped chamber'56-de fined by and between the rotor 20 and the hous ing [8. It will be noted that the lower end .ofv

the cylinder 34 will substantially register with the portion of the chamber 56 which is greatest in cross sectional area'fl'A'plurality'of spaced apertures 58 are provided inthe disk- 52 and these apertures are so spaced 'andupositioned S-as to allow the disk 52 to function as a multiple valve to close'and open elongatednports BO which are formed at the ends of: a plurality of transversely disposed channels..62 formed on the'interior face of the housing portion 26.'IThe exact formof these channels 62 is immaterial in this'application, the essential feature thereof being that these channels communicate the opposite sides of the crescent-shaped chamber 56. A preferred form and distribution of these channels 62 is indicated in Figure 6, where four of these channels are shown connecting the opposite sides of the chamber 56. The elongated ports 6!] allow.

movement of the piston'36- through a considerable distance in order to considerablyincrease the amount of oil contained in the chamber '55 before the channels 62 are closed by the action of the disk 52. This action will be clearly understood if reference be had to the drawings where A in it is shown how the transversepin 44 can" move through the slot 42 in the housing'and the slot in the disk while forcing the disk'to rotate toward the position closing the elongated ports A plurality of vanes 64 are radially slidably mounted in slots 66 regularly spaced peripherally of the rotor 20. These vanes 64 are of a width equal to the width of the rotor and the outer end 68 of each vane is properly arcuately formed and otherwise adapted to provide for close fitting frictional engagement of the vane against the housing [8. The vanes are, of course, springbiased radially outwardly .by some structure analogous'to thecoiled's'pring 10 which is comp'ressed'between the inner end of the slot 66 and the end 68 of the vane, the spring being guided and held in position by a short pin 12 inserted axially the end of the slot 66.

understood from the foregoing description of 1 themechanical ,details thereof, taken in connection with the above recitation of the objects sought to be achieved by this invention, but in recapitulation, it may be noted that the braking actioni's progressively applied by movement of the control rod 48 which causes the pin 44 to force the piston 36 in adirection causing more of the oilentrapped in the system to be forced intothe chamber 56. The increase in the amount of oil-in the chamber 56 will, of course, result in an increase in-the braking action of the device and such' braking action will be proportional to the amount of oil in this chamber. In thefinal or fully braked position, the pin 44 will have moved the disk '52 into a position closing the elongated ports 60. The oil will now no longer be bypassed-from the opposite sides of ,the chamber 56 and what is essentially a fluid lock will be imposed between the rotor 20 and the housing Ill-"The perfection 30f this fluid lock will be depen'dentupon the degree of :close fitting and fine machining of the parts concerned. An

important .feature' of this invention is the inclusion 0f the'combined breather tube and expansion'chamb'er .74, illustrated in Figure 1. This combined tube and chamber is' in communica-- tion with the upper portion of the cylinder 34' and allows excess oil to be. isolated from the system temporarily when said .oil expands as a result of a temperature rise. It has been found in: practiceyhoweverp that. this brake will not readily heatz-in use. I

Though there has been; shown a particular embodiment-0f this invention this'application is not limited to this particular embodiment, but it is desired to includeinf the scope of this invention' the construction,v combination and arrangementofparts and portions, substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

Having described the invention, What is claimed asnewisi I 1. A brake mechanism comprising a fixed casing, a rotor eccentrically mounted-within said casing and-rigidly secured to ashaft to be braked, said rotor and easing definingv between them a crescent-shaped oil chamber, a vane radically slidably mounted on said rotor to frictionally bear against said casing, by-passi channels in said case j ing' directlylconnecting opposite sides of .said chamber; and-means to vary the volume of oil in said'chamberf' 5 a 2. A- brake i mechanism comprising a; fixed casing, a rotor eccentricall mounted within said casing and rigidly'secured-toashaft tobe braked,

said rotor and casing:ldefiningabetween them a crescent-shapedv oil chamber; a ;vane radiallyslide ably mounted on said rotor: to-rfrictionally'bear against said casing; by-pass'channels in said case ing 1 directly. connecting .opposite. sides of said? chamber, and means to vary the volume of oil in said chamber comprising a cylinder and piston, said cylinder being in communication with said chamber.

3. A brake mechanism comprising a fixed casing, a rotor eccentrically mounted within said casing and rigidly secured to a shaft to be braked, said rotor and casing defining between them a crescent-shaped oil chamber, a vane radiall slidably mounted on said rotor to frictionally bear against said casing, a plurality of spaced by-pass channels in said casing directly connecting opposite sides of said chamber, and means to vary the volume of oil in said chamber, said channels having elongated ports.

4. A brake mechanism comprising a fixed casing, a rotor eccentrically mounted within said casing and rigidly secured to a shaft to be braked, said rotor and casing defining between them a. crescent-shaped oil chamber, a vane radially slidably mounted on said rotor to frictionally bear against said casing, by-pass channels in said casing directly connecting opposite sides of said chamber, means to vary the volume of oil in said chamber, said channels having elongated ports, and means to fractionally close said ports in relation to the adjustment of said means to vary the volume of oil.

5. A brake mechanism comprising a fixed casing, a rotor eccentrically mounted within said casing and rigidly secured to a shaft to be braked, said rotor and easing defining between them a crescent-shaped oil chamber, a vane radially slidably mounted on said rotor to frictionally bear against said casing, a plurality of spaced by-pass channels in said casing directly connecting opposite sides of said chamber, means to vary the volume of oil in said chamber, said channels having elongated ports and to fractionally close said ports in relation to the adjustment of said means to vary the volume of oil, said means including an apertured disk rotatably mounted between one side of said rotor and said casing, said disk being connected to said piston to move therewith and functioning as multiple valve means with relation to said ports.

6. A brake mechanism comprising a fixed casing, a rotor eccentrically mounted within said casing and rigidly secured to a shaft to be braked, said rotor and easing defining between them a crescent-shaped oil chamber, a vane radially slidably mounted on said rotor to frictionally bear against said casing, by-pass channels extending transversely of said casing directly connecting opposite sides of said chamber, means to vary the volume of oil in said chamber, said channels having elongated ports and to fractionally close said ports in relation to the variable position of said means, said means including an apertured disk rotatably mounted between one side of said rotor and said casing, said disk being connected to said piston to move therewith and functioning as multiple valve means with relation to said ports, said ports and the apertures in said plate being positioned so that all said ports are opened and closed simultaneously, thus adapting the mechanism for braking the shaft against rotation in both directions.

JOSEPH W. KENNEDY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of thisv patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,449,562 Thompson Mar. 2'7, 1923 1,501,444 English et a1 July 15, 1924 1,653,360 Howard Dec. 20, 1927 

